Following the team with a unique perspective on all things Phillies.Email me: PhilliesPhollowers@comcast.net – Peace, Love & Baseball – Jenn

Myers Dazzles With The Bat As Phils Take 2-0 Series Lead

It wasn’t his arm that impressed Phillies fan’s tonight – Brett Myers got it done with the bat.In fact, his pitching was not really great and he was wild through 5 innings.Myers allowed 5 runs on 6 hits and 4 walks.3 of those runs came off a Manny Ramirez home run, after which Ramirez, in child-like fashion, yelled insults out to Myers about his pitching.Ramirez had better watch who he angers; this team is poised to pounce and if he was thinking like an adult, he’d know not to add fuel to the fire.Besides that, Myers out-hit everyone in today’s game, including Ramirez.Myers’ 3 hits and 3 RBI’s out-produced even his own teammates.He also scored 2 runs and looked like he needed oxygen at one point after rounding the bases.And those 3 RBI’s of his turned out to be the difference in the 8-5 win over the Dodgers.

Greg Dobbs was added to the line-up again today for his offense and as usual, he came up big.Dobbs went 2 for 3 with 1 walk and scored 2 runs as well.Shane Victorino went 2 for 5 with 4 RBI; the only other Phillie who basically matched the bat of Myers.Chase Utley walked 4 times!Apparently, the Dodgers really didn’t want to pitch to him.Whatever it was, we’ll take it.Ryan Howard however, continues to struggle and he has had only 2 hits the entire post-season so far.The Phillies are going to need him to snap out of it quickly if they are going to continue to win.Right now, the rest of the team, the bottom half of the line-up in particular, are making up for his lack of hit support.

Charlie Manuel’s presence at the start of the series in LA is up in the air right now as his mother passed away early this morning.My sincere condolences go out to Charlie and his family.This is very sad news and, even though this team will always need him, I do hope he takes any time that is necessary to honor the memory of his mother and visit with his family.

The Phillies are now up by 2 games to none in the NCLS.How big is this?HUGE.The Phillies need only 2 more wins in 5 tries.That means they can play less than .500 baseball and still win the series.They will have to continue to put the pressure on the Dodgers though and not take anything for granted.It starts again in LA on Sunday.

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